Scenic Hills Home and School Association Meeting Minutes

Sept 25, 2008

 

-Welcome and introduction of the Executive Board; which remains the same as last year:

Lisa Todaro – President, Erin Brophy – Vice President, Terri Smith – Treasurer, JoAnn Boyle - Scretary

 

-Co-coordinator positions are open:

·          Hospitality – co-coordinator needed to work with Alicia Brown on various events.

·          Art Showcase – co-coordinator needed

·          Someone to handle the child care setup prior to each H&S meeting. Approximately ½ hour prior to meeting.

-Spirit Days – typically first Friday of each month. H&S with assistance from teachers prepared monthly activities for this year. Guest Readers will be needed to participate in Read-Along’s. Look for info in Spotlight for more details.

-Child care during H&S meetings - Due primarily to parent requests, child care will be provided during H&S meetings on a trial basis only. It will be for elementary school-aged children only. Parents are asked to follow the sign-in & out procedure and to not bring food of any kind to eliminate the possibility of any food allergy issues. A parent volunteer is needed to support this effort by assisting in the set up the area just prior to the meeting. A total of two children were cared for during this meeting.

-Yahoo group – There are over 360 members. If you think you’ve joined and did not receive a meeting reminder on Thursday, then you’re not a member. Please contact Lisa at lmtodaro19@comcast.net

-Superintendent’s Dinner scheduled for Monday September 29^th at SHS. The next meeting will be April 21, hosted by Sabold.

 

 

2. Treasurer Report – Terri Smith
   1. Working balance is $4,819.56.
   2. Expenditures

1.        $231 for die cutters for teacher

2.        $1846 for National Geographic subscriptions for all students

3. Request for timely submission of reimbursement requests: three weeks from the event.
4. New form required to detail expenses to help track expenses more accurately
5. Any event that is approaching budget or potentially going over budget, should contact the treasurer to alert them.
6. Postpone the vote on subsidizing classroom parties, until November meeting, when we have the final numbers from fall fundraiser.

 

3. Coordinators Report

- Fundraiser – many thanks to Leslie Minchin and her assistants who ran the Cherrydale fundraiser. As of this meeting, they were busy tallying the sales orders. The final total was not yet available.

- Summer Literacy – forms were due last Friday, double check with your child’s teacher if there’s a question about your submission.

- Spiritwear – B.J. Madden is the coordinator-in-training.

·          Request for adult-style shirts similar to what was offered a couple of years ago.

·          Request for Scenic car magnets. They possibly will be offered later as a student council event.

·          Request for pictures of items to be posted on website for those parent who cannot get into the school to see the items in person.

- Recycling – (Theresa Whitaker & Donna Storti)

·          Deadline for summer BoxTops contest was Friday Sept 26

·          Pond cleaning occurred over the summer. Five years since last cleaning, muck was too deep. Cleaner recommended 2-2^1/2 years between cleanings.

·          Funds are not as plentiful as previous years, due to competition from middle school.

·          Items recycled to benefit the Ecology Center:

1.        Acme Receipts

2.        Box Tops

3.        Genuardi’s eScrip program

4.        Target cards

5.        Ink jet cartridges

-Family Fun Nights – (Barb McGonigal) Halloween Fun Night tentatively scheduled for Saturday October 25^th. Look for more info in the upcoming Spotlight. A co-coordinator is needed.

-Guest Reader - signup was done just during back-to-school night to reduce confusion and time compiling schedules.

-Playground - new equipment ordered, playground was painted over the summer by the H&S: a jump rope alley, wall ball targets, bases for kick ball, hopscotch and four square.

 

4. Teacher’s Representatives – Donna Storti and Karen McGlynn – thanks the H & S for the die cutters and the back to school luncheon. The H & S welcomes Karen McGlynn as our new teacher rep.

 

5. Principal Report – Dave Soslau

Many thanks are owed to...

...Parent Volunteers for helping us with a great start to the year.   All of our safety and emergency paperwork has been collected and organized.   The Cherrydale Fundraiser collection made it look like a cottage industry took over our cafeteria.   Upcoming events take a lot of planning and we are very appreciative of the involvement and support of our parents.

...Our Teachers and Staff for an outstanding start to the school year.   They’ve been working together to integrate new technologies, programs, methods and practices.   There are 10 staff members that are either newly hired or working in new assignments this year.   The result of their efforts is noticed on a daily basis in the smiles of our students.

...The Technology Department for among many other functions, installing 21 new Smartboards, 40 updated computers, a 30 computer laptop mobile wireless lab, and 4 networked high capacity copiers with scanning and printing functions.   This small department has been an unbelievable resource for us.

...The Maintenance Department for another summer of catch up work and nearly new level of cleanliness in opening a building where 11 classrooms were moved this summer.

 

Student Enrollment – Total = 643

Kindergarten                   145

First                              122

Second                          126

Third                              123

Fourth                            127

 

Instruction and Assessment Highlights

Smartboards have been installed in all classrooms and are increasing in usage as teachers share their expertise and resources, both within the building and with their partners at Sabold.   Students benefit from increases in visual engagement and modeling, interaction, and the application of technology skills.

Scanners are now functional from our four copiers in the building.   We are using the scanners to electronically store and share curriculum materials.   Students are benefiting from the visual enhancement of instruction using the scanned materials and the Smarboards.

National Geographic magazines have arrived and are in use as one of the methods for teaching reading through informational text.   Smartboards are also used for shared reading of scanned articles.   In particular, our teachers have asked me to thank the Home and School Association for financially supporting the purchase of this resource.   They are thrilled to have such a great tool for teaching.   Also, the kids are stopping me in the lunch room to say thank you.

Math Pilot – we are investigating a new math program offered by Scott Foresman called EnVisions.   There are a few classrooms involved at Sabold, Scenic and ETR.   Here at Scenic, the pilot is being conducted by 4^th grade teacher Judy Kyper.

Summer projects – teachers have been asked to invite participating students on an optional basis to share their favorite summer project with their class so that their work is recognized.   This is an ongoing process.

MAP testing – Measures of Academic Progress testing will run for 2 weeks starting on October 6^th and ending on the 17^th.   We use this assessment system in first through 4^th grade to track students’ growth, predict PSSA performance, identify trends in instruction and adjust programs and instruction accordingly.   Parents will receive individual performance reports at the end of the year.

PSSA Testing in 3^rd and 4^th grade in reading and math will take place in the spring from March 16^th through the 27^th.   The 3^rd and 4^th grade teams, along with support staff meet for an hour on a bi-weekly basis starting in October to evaluate data trends and plan instruction to support students’ success on this state mandated, standardized assessment.

 

Calendar and Events

October 1 – Picture Day

October 6 (whole week) – Book Fair – Parents are asked to please either make purchase expectations clear to their child(ren) or have children shop during school and make their purchases with their parents after school.   The LMC is open until 4:00 for this purpose.

October 20 (whole week) – Red Ribbon Week

October 23 – Senior Then and Now Day

October 31 – Halloween Parade

Nov 3^rd and 4^th – No School, Teacher inservice days

November 18, 19, 20, and 21^st are half days for students to allow for parent report card conferences.

 

Facilities

·          Both modular classrooms are in use this year for second grade.   Card swipe access has been added to the gym doors to allow for a covered entrance to the building during inclement weather.   The decision to move MELC inside and have 2 second grade classrooms in the modular unit was based on past experience with having one 4^th grade in one modular with MELC in the other modular.   Second grade class size is 21 students and the placement of partner teachers allows for collegial support with minimal risk of disruptive noise.

·          The drainage inlet in the side lot has been rebuilt so we are hoping this will eliminate the Scenic Lake that forms after heavy rains.

·          Many of the lines in our lots are faded.   Our facilities department is hoping to be able to sealcoat and restripe the lots this fall.   Also, signs have been ordered to restrict parking along the entrance to the side parking lot to support an organized and safe dismissal.   Everyone needs to keep in mind that there are 550 students leaving the building between 3:15 and 3:35.   Patience, common sense and courtesy are needed.

·          During the day, Scenic’s grounds are for the sole use of Scenic students, staff and registered visitors.   The rules for the outside part of the campus are no different than the rules for the inside.   There have been some instances of parents with small children attempting to the use the grounds and equipment during the day which presents issues of interference, safety and liability.   The grounds are also not to be used as a cut-through from Hillview to Norwinden.   Signs are on order and will be posted.

 

Logistics and Safety

Dismissal – Every effort is being made to ensure that students are dismissed first with safety in mind and then with timeliness.   There has been some improvement which will hopefully be self-sustaining when everyone understands and plays by the same rules.

Lunch – There has been a noticeable improvement in student behavior in the lunch room.   For clarification, students are asked to speak at reasonable volume for the first 23 minutes of lunch.   We ask that they stop talking only when an adult is speaking on the microphone and during the last 2 minutes of lunch so we can give dismissal directions.

 

 

Parents were encouraged to frequently check the district website, Channel 11 and/or the local newspapers for updated information on the status of the teacher’s contract negotiations. They were told that they would be notified if any major change occurs.

 

Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm. Next meeting will be held on Wednesday November 19^th at 7pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

JoAnn Boyle

H&S Secretary